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Krugman: Short Political Memories
Short Political Memories
Busy day, so not much time for posting. Just a note about the oddly short memories of many people commenting on this final stretch of the presidential campaign.
First, there’s the agonizing of Republicans over the choice of Mitt Romney as the party’s paladin. As Jonathan Chait points out, you really have to remember primary season (which shouldn’t be hard, given that it was just the other day, but seems to have vanished into the mists). The fact was that all the non-Mitts were awesomely terrible, indeed ludicrous. The only contender who even looked on paper like a real alternative, Rick Perry, turned out to have three major liabilities: he was inarticulate, he was slow on his feet, and I can’t remember the third (sorry, couldn’t help myself).
Second, people wondering why Paul Ryan hasn’t been able to sell his message; these people have forgotten how the Ryan phenomenon ever happened. Ryan was never able to sell his message to the general public. His constituency was always the Beltway establishment, which had decided that he was the Brave Truth-teller. There was never any good reason to believe that voucherizing Medicare would be anything but desperately unpopular.
Third — and this is prospective — people now invoking the 2004 debates as an example of game-changers (Kerry cut dramatically into a big Bush lead) are, I suspect, failing to remember what happened in that first debate, which was that Bush came across as a total idiot. I suppose this could happen to Obama, but it would certainly be out of character.
- more -
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/29/short-political-memories/
Busy day, so not much time for posting. Just a note about the oddly short memories of many people commenting on this final stretch of the presidential campaign.
First, there’s the agonizing of Republicans over the choice of Mitt Romney as the party’s paladin. As Jonathan Chait points out, you really have to remember primary season (which shouldn’t be hard, given that it was just the other day, but seems to have vanished into the mists). The fact was that all the non-Mitts were awesomely terrible, indeed ludicrous. The only contender who even looked on paper like a real alternative, Rick Perry, turned out to have three major liabilities: he was inarticulate, he was slow on his feet, and I can’t remember the third (sorry, couldn’t help myself).
Second, people wondering why Paul Ryan hasn’t been able to sell his message; these people have forgotten how the Ryan phenomenon ever happened. Ryan was never able to sell his message to the general public. His constituency was always the Beltway establishment, which had decided that he was the Brave Truth-teller. There was never any good reason to believe that voucherizing Medicare would be anything but desperately unpopular.
Third — and this is prospective — people now invoking the 2004 debates as an example of game-changers (Kerry cut dramatically into a big Bush lead) are, I suspect, failing to remember what happened in that first debate, which was that Bush came across as a total idiot. I suppose this could happen to Obama, but it would certainly be out of character.
- more -
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/29/short-political-memories/
Zingers? Really? Is Mitt preparing to be Herman Cain or Sarah Palin?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021436543
2 replies
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